April 2012
7 posts
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Storify: Highlights from First Amendment Day 2012 →
Reminder: Room change for tonight's keynote! →
Ken Paulson will be speaking in the South Ballroom, not the Pioneer Room as earlier schedules announced. Follow the link above to the most up to date schedule of all FAD events.
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Learn a bit more about Ken Paulson, our 2012... →
Did you know our Keynote speaker was on the team that founded USA Today? Learn that, and a lot more about our honored guest in this article from Iowa State’s news service.
And, of course, be sure to come out to the SOUTH BALLROOM (NOT the pioneer room as earlier schedules announced) tonight at 7 to hear Paulson’s speech on news for a new generation.
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“As proposed by the Obama administration, the United States Congress should allow...”
– That’s the topic of tonight’s debate — come to the South Ballroom tonight at 7 to hear the ISU Democrats square off against last year’s champions, the ISU Republicans, on this taxing (ha, ha) issue.
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FAD is this week! →
Get real pumped. And check out the full schedule at the link above.
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March 2012
9 posts
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This day in 1973: Marlon Brando protests the... →
The star of The Godfather declined to accept the coveted best actor statuette because he was protesting the portrayal of Native Americans in film.
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“No family is obliged to acquiesce when publishers use the vehicle of fundamental...”
– Meghan Cox Gurdon on The Hunger Games
Do you think the series is too dark for kids?
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“140 characters may not be enough to change the world, but the First Amendment...”
– Brian DeConinck, one of 22 winners of the #freetotweet scholarship competition. More than 17,000 entries, most of them tweets, extolled the importance of the First Amendment on the 220th birthday of the Bill of Rights, and the winners were announced yesterday, the 261st birthday of James Madison....
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Happy national Freedom of Information day! →
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“Better a thousandfold abuse of free speech than denial of free speech.”
– Charles Bradlaugh
February 2012
10 posts
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“It appears that some school officials, teachers, and parents have assumed that...”
– Bill Clinton
(ps, interested in religion in schools? We have an event for you.)
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Remembering a First Amendment crusader →
Though readers may not recognize the name, Barney Rossett had a profound impact on the way Americans read. The publisher pushed the boundaries of the First Amendment to release titles such as Tropic of Cancer and Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
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Free Speech Debate →
An international team — based at Oxford University — is proposing 10 principles for global free speech, and opening them up for comment online. Pretty nifty stuff.
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“Damn all expurgated books; the dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book.”
– Walt Whitman
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“If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t...”
– — Noam Chomsky
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Ban on boobies →
A judge upheld a Wisconsin middle school’s decision to ban “I [heart] boobies” bracelets on Monday. The bracelets are distributed to raise breast cancer awareness, but the school feels the wording is inappropriate. Follow the link to read more from the SPLC.
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Should colleges regulate what students can say on... →
Sounds ridiculous to us, but the University of Minnesota is trying to do just that in a case that will go before the Minnesota Supreme Court tomorrow. The case could set a dangerous precedent for students’ speech rights.
Follow the link above to read more from SPLC Executive Director (and former FAD guest!) Frank LoMonte.
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Updated First Amendment Day schedule →
We so excited. Check it out!
“Maybe you ought to change your political views to conform with your First...”
– Floyd Abrams, First Amendment lawyer. Read more of his interview with Reason Magazine here.
January 2012
14 posts
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“For, while the particular four-letter word being litigated here is perhaps more...”
– Cohen v. California, 1971.
More great quotes from First Amendment cases here.
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Journalists—Myself Included—Swept Up in Mass... →
Gavin Aronsen, an Iowa State alum and managing editor of the Ames Progressive, was arrested while covering Occupy Oakland protests over the weekend. Follow the link to read his story on Mother Jones.
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Press Freedom Index →
A pretty nifty list of the countries with the most press freedoms, compiled by Reporters Without Boundaries. The United States dropped from #20 to #47 over the past year, mainly due to arrests of journalists covering Occupy Wall Street protests.
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“What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now...”
– Sigmund Freud, 1933
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The OPEN Bill: A SOPA alternate →
An alternative to SOPA is being drafted with the help of the internet. User comments are being crowdsourced, and may end up in the actual legislation. Click through for more from GOOD Magazine.
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The day the Internet went dark →
The internet is on strike! Here’s a nifty gallery of how some major sites are protesting SOPA and PIPA.
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Censored songs →
Life’s gallery of songs that have been censored includes everything from Cole Porter to Eminem.
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Poynter weighs in on SOPA: what journalists need... →
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“I don’t think the national anthem is something we ought to be joking around...”
– Vaneta Becker, an Indiana State Senator who wants to create a fine for performing the National Anthem at a school event in any way other than “the way that we normally have it sung or heard throughout most of our state and our country.”
Gene Policinski, Executive Director of the First...
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December 2011
1 post
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“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or...”
– Welcome to the First Amendment Day blog! Here we’ll be posting all sorts of free-speech goodness, including information about the upcoming 10th annual First Amendment Day celebration at Iowa State University. 